Crimping tool



Oct. 22; 1968 H. P. e. TILLMANN ETAL 3,406,558

CRIMPING TOOL 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 23, 1966 INVENTORS HRG- 7'lllM/l/V/V BY P-G.PHL/P5 1968 H. P. s. TILLMANN ETAL 3,406,558

CRIMPING TOOL 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 23, 1968 INVENTORS BY 26. Pill/P5 240m Get. 22, 1968 H P. G. TILLMANN ETAL 3,406,558

CRIMPING TOOL 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIGJ.

Filed Feb. 23, 1966 FIG.6

FIG. 5

INVENTORS HP. 6. TILL MAI/N BY 25. PHL/PJS Oct. 22, 1968 H. P. G. TILLMANN ETAL 3,406,558

CRIMPING TOOL 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 23, 1966 INVENTORJ H.F G.7'/LLM/M//V BY RG- P/IZ ms United States Patent 3,406,558 CRIMPING TOOL Hans Peter Gustav Tillmann, Keerbergen, Brabant, an

Paul Gustaaf Phlips, Hombeek, Antwerp, Belgium, assignors to Burndy Corporation, a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 23, 1966, Ser. No. 529,469 Claims priority, applicztliog Bselgium, Nov. 29, 1965,

6 Claims. a. 72-416) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates generally to compression tools of the type used for crimping small articles such as electrical connectors, and has particular reference to tools of this type which include means for conveniently retaining such articles in a given position.

In many prior art compression tools, various types of article locating means were provided, but in most cases these means served to locate only, and did not include the capability of retaining an article in a given position. These prior art devices often included a stop, or a detent, or a positioning slot in which an article might be manually held to assure that the tool would engage it in a predetermined position. Devices of this type have been found to demand considerable dexterity on the part of the operator, and are in general, imprecise and inconvenient to use. 1

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a compression tool having means for retaining an article in a firm given position relative to the jaws of the tool throughout a compression cycle.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a compression tool having means for automatically releasing'a retained article after it has been fully compressed. Still other objects of this invention include the provision ofvintegrally mounted article retaining means, for crimping tools, which is relatively inexpensive, effective in Operation, and easy to use. 7

A feature of this invention is the use of a spring-loaded retention jaw positioned between the fixed jaw and the movable jaw of a compression tool in such manner that it is resiliently urged against one of the other two jaws so as to grip an article between itself and the opposing jaw.

FIGURES 3 to 6 represent partial vertical section drawings illustrating sequential steps in a crimping cycle preformed by the tool shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical section view of a compression tool constructed in accordance with another embodiment of this invention;

ice

I compression tool illustrated. in FIGURE 1 may be seen to comprise a body member 1 on which are mounted a fixed jaw 30, a movable jaw 12, and an operating handle 2. The operating handle 2 is coupled to movable jaw 12 by means of a pinion 11, and to the body member by an articulating link 3 which is pinioned at 4 and 5, so as to advance the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw when the handle is moved in the direction of arrow F. A tension spring 10 is coupled at one end to the body member 1 and at the opposite end to handle 2 so as to return the jaws of the tool to open position when an applied force acting in the direction of arrow F is released.

In accordance with known design the operating handle 2 is provided with a ratchet 8 and the body member is provided with a cooperating pawl 6 which is pivoted to the body member by pinion 7 and is spring-loaded by tension spring 9. This ratchet and pawl arrangement assures that once a compression cycle of the tool has begun, the jaws must be moved to fully closed position before they can again be opened.

A slotted guide member 13, fastened to the body member 1 by means of pins 14 is provided as a means for retaining and guiding the motion of movable paw 12.

In the embodiment of this invention illustrated in FIG- URES 1 through 6, a retention jaw 18 may be seen to be positioned between fixed jaw 30 and movable jaw 12. The retention jaw is positioned relative to movable jaw 12 by means of a pair of pistons 17. which are received in a pair of cylinder bores 16 in the body 15 of movable jaw. Compression spring 19 positioned between pistons 17 and the bottoms 20 of bores 16 resiliently couple the movable jaw 12 to retention jaw 18.

As may be most readily seen in FIGURE 2, detent spring 23 having a latching lip 24 and anchor portion 22 is secured to the bottom portion 20 of movable jaw 12 by means of a staking pin or rivet 21. When the assembled retention jaw 18 is urged far enough toward movable jaw 12 against the resistance of compression spring 19, so as to compress springs 19 to a given degree, detent spring 23 will be deflected so as to snap lip 24 into engagement with cooperating shoulders 25 on jaw 18. The purpose of restraining the relative motion of jaws 12 and 18 in this manner will be made apparent by the descrip tion of the operation of this tool which follows below. A push button 26 which operates through an aperture 26a in guide block 13, is provided to permit manual deflection of latch 23, so that lip 24 may be disengaged from shoulder 25 when necessary in the course of operation of this tool. Operation of the embodiment of this invention represented by FIGURE 1 may be most readily explained with reference to FIGURES 3 through 6 as follows:

FIGURE3 illustrates the relative positions of fixed jaw 30, movable jaw 12, and retention jaw 18 at the beginning of a compression cycle. At this point, jaws 12 and 13 are separated by a substantial distance in accordance with the design of the compression tool operating mechanism, and retention jaw 18 is held in close proximity to movable jaw 12 by interengagement of detent lip 24 with latching shoulder 25; as a result of this relative po sitioning of jaws 18 and 12, compression springs 19 are under significant compression between pistons 17 and the bottom portion 20 of bores 16. There is sufiicient space between jaws 18 and 30 at this time to permit positioning of an electrical connector 28 in one of the die grooves 27 on jaw 18. These grooves are adapted to cooperate with mating grooves 31 on jaw 30 for compressing connectors therebetween. Grooves'27 may be provided as shown with a stop shoulder29 which is adapted to "engage a cooperating shoulder (not shown) on connector 28 for longitudinally positioning the connector.

At the next stage of operation, the push button 26 is pressed inwardly toward jaw 12 as shown by the direction of the horizontal arrow in FIGURE 4, to deflect spring arm 23 and disengage lip 24 from shoulder 25. Disengagement of latch 23 permits-jaw 18 to move in the upward direction shown by the vertical arrowat the right of the jaw, under the resilient pressure of compression springs 19, so as to resiliently grip the connector 28 between groove 27 on jaw 18 and groove 31 on jaw 30.

Withthe connector 28 positioned as shown in FIG- URE 4, the force applying mechanism of the compression tool may be operated to advance movable jaw 12 toward fixed jaw 30. Depending upon the force rate of compression springs 19, further upward vertical-movement of retention jaw- 18 (in the direction of the vertical arrow shown in FIGURE 5) will be resisted by connector 28 until the force transmitted from jaw 12 to jaw 18 is sutlicient to compress the connector between cooperating grooves 27 and 31, as shown in FIGURE 5. When jaw 12 has approached sulficiently close to jaw 18, as a result of compression of springs 19 and connector 28, latch 23 will again engage lip 24 with shoulder 25 to effectively lock jaw 18 to jaw 12.

Following a compression of a connector 28 in to a conductor 32 as described above, further operation of the compression tool will again separate jaws 12 and to the position shown in FIGURE 6. When jaws 12 and 30 are moved apart in this manner, jaw 18 will simultaneously be separated from jaw 30 due to the locking action of latch23. The jaws of the compression tool may thus be returned to their initial position with sutficient space between them to permit removal of the compressed connector 28 and replacement with a fresh connector ready to be compressed.

FIGURE 7 through 11 represents an alternative embodiment of this invention in which parts corresponding exactly to those illustrated in the embodiment of FIG- URE 1 are numbered identically while substantially similar parts are likewise denoted by identical numbers which are further distinguished by a superscript prime marking, and parts distinctive to this embodiment are denoted by reference numerals 33 through 41.

Thus, the compression tool of this embodiment is pro- 'vided with a movable jaw 12' and fixed jaw 33, which differ from their counterparts in FIGURE 1 primarily in their shape. In this embodiment, however, the retention jaw 34 is hingedly mounted at 35 in the manner of a flap, and is provided with a torsion spring 38 which bears against surface 39 of body member 1 to resiliently urge jaw 34 against jaw 33. The retention jaw is provided with a protruding handle portion 41 which permits it to be manually pivoted about pin 35 so that it may be separated from jaw 33. It is further provided with a plurality of apertures 36 which are substantially aligned with die positions 31' in jaw 33 and are adapted to permit the indenting dies. 36' to pass through them.

In the manner applied to the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 1, operation of this embodiment may best be explained with reference to FIGURES 8 through 11 as follows:

In FIGURE 8, the jaws 12' and 33 are shown separated by a substantial distance, as they would be at the beginning of a compression cycle. Retention jaw 34 has been shown resiliently deflected out of engagement with jaw 33 by a downward force acting on handle portion 41, so that an electrical connector may be inserted between jaws 34 and 33 and positioned within one of the receiving grooves 27 in jaw 34.

Following insertion of connector 40 into groove 27' as shown in FIGURE 8, release of the downward force 4 on handle portion 41 will permit'jaw '34 to move upwardly in the'direction of 'th'evertical' arrow shown in FIGURE 9, under the resilient forceo'f torsion spring-38, to grip the connector 40 between the opposed portions of groove 31and27 l With the connector thus gripped between jaws 33 and 34, movable jaw 12' may be advanced by operation of thecompressioirtool thenormal manner, until indentQrs-36' 'have passed through apertures 36 injaw 34, and have deformed connector 40 about an-inserted stranded wire 42 as shown in FIGURE l0.

FIGURE'II illustrates the endof'a compression cycle of this embodiment, at which point the jaws -33'and'12' havebeen separated by continued operation .of thetool mechanism, and jaw 34 has been manually deflected by a'force applied to handle 41 to permit removal-of crimped connector 40-and wire 42 and-insertion of a fresh connector i v I Thisinvention has thus beeri described =but-itis desired to be understood that it is not confined to the particular formsor' usages shown and describedrThe sam'ebeing merely illustrative, and that-the invention maybe'carried out in'other ways without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore, the right is-gbroadly claimed to employ all equivalent instrumentalities'coming within the-scope of the appendant claims, and by means of'which objects of this invention are attained and new results accomplished; as it is'o'bvious that the particular embodiments herein shown and described are only some of the many that can be employed'to obtain-these objects and accomplish these results;

1. Acrimping tool for compressing articles comprising:

asubstantially fixed jaw;

a movable jaw; means operable to move said movable jaw relative to said fixed jaw along a predetermined path;

a retention jaw adapted to cooperate with said substantially fixed jaw for gripping articles therebetween; spring means coupled to said retention jaw for resiliently urging said retention jaw against said substantially fixed. jaw to grip articles 'therebetween substantially independently of motion of said movable jaw;

' wherein said spring means resiliently couples said retention jaw to said movable jaw in such" manner that said retention jaw moves with said movable jaw, .during at least part of a compression'cycle.

- 2. A crimping tool in accordance with claim 1 wherein said retention jaw is positioned intermediate said'fixed jaw andsaid movable jaw, and is provided with" apertures therethrough for permittingsaid movable'jaw 'to engage a gripped article.

3. A crimping tool in accordance with claim 1 further including latch means for releaseably restraining'said retention jaw against movement in response to the resilient urging of said spring means.

4. .A crimping tool in accordance'with claim 3wherein said latch means includes interlocking detents on said retention jaw and 'on said movable jaw which are positioned to engage when said movable jaw is moved within a given distance of said retention jaw.

5. A crimping tool in accordance'with claim 4 wherein said spring means is resiliently interposed-between said movable jaw and saidretention jaw, and whereinat least one of said interlocking detents includes a springmember for urging said one detent into engagement with the other detent, said tool further includin'g manually operable .re-

lease meansforjdeflecting saidspring member to disen- "gage said detents. I Y l 6. A compression tool, including means for holding :articles to be compressed, comprising: a

-' a'fixed jaw;i' it amovablejaw; v means for moving said movable jaw toward and away from said fixed jaw so as to compress and release objects which may be positioned therebetween;

a retention jaw positioned between said fixed jaw and said movable jaw and adapted to be urged against said fixed jaw by motion of said movable jaw;

compression spring means resiliently coupling said retention jaw to said movable jaw, so as to resiliently urge said retention jaw into engagement with said fixed jaw independently of motion of said movable J means for transmitting force directly from said movable jaw to said retention jaw after said compression spring means has been compressed to a given degree;

compression die means on said fixed jaw;

compression die means on said movable jaw adapted to cooperate with the die means on said fixed jaw for compressing an article positioned therebetween;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/ 1946 Watt 72-397 2,953,185 9/1960 Lazar 72412 3,212,317 10/1965 Lynch 72-416 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

G. P. CROSBY, Assistant Examiner. 

